First Step
by RavenSara84
Summary: Sequel to Valley of the Kings, Ryuuto wants Aideena to join him with his job, but he finds its rather difficult to do when she has something holding her back.


Title: First Step

Rating: PG

Notes: Aideena is my OC

Summary: Ryuuto want Aideena to join him in his job, but he'll find it rather difficult to do considering something hold her back.

As the end of Aideena's holiday came closer Ryuuto ended up asking her, what he thought at least, was a simple question.

"Do you only research ancient Egyptian history?" He asked as they walked around the market place, curious to know if she had more information about other ancient civilizations.

She starred at him for a moment before something sparkly caught her eye; "Hum?" She blinked and looked back at him; "No, but it was the first one that I fell in love with," She smiled at the memory of her learning about ancient Egyptians, all thanks to her Aunt Mary and that tarot deck.

"So the Aztecs?" He asked with a small smirk as she looked at the other trinkets on sale, though she backed away as she saw a merchant come towards her.

"Yes," She nodded but paused; "As much as I can learn about them. Why do you want to know?" She frowned, wondering why he was questioning her about her history knowledge.

"Well it's probably going to be easier if I had some company…" Ryuuto began to suggest, realising that it would have been a better idea if he had actually figured out what to say to her _before_ he asked his question.

"Wait… No. Join you?" She asked in disbelief; "Is that what you're asking?"

He nodded slowly, his amber eyes hoping that she would agree to it and it was so clear for her to see.

_The boy is mad._ She thought to herself and shook her head; "No no no,"

"Huh?" Ryuuto just looked at her, not understanding; _Shouldn't she want to go? To see the world and the ancient ruins? _ "Why not? I've got some knowledge about it but it would be useful…"

"That's _not_ it!" she interrupted him and he beckoned for her to continue; "I…" She stopped for a moment, wondering if she could really tell him about _that_.

"Yes? Come one! You _must_ want to see the ancient ruins," Ryuuto said, wondering what could be holding her back.

"I'm…" She took a breath, deciding that she had nothing to lose, after all she would be heading back to Ireland in a few days; "I'm not very good on planes… Or before going on the plane… In fact flights in general cause me to panic,"

"You don't want to travel around the world because you are scared of flying?" He said simply and she nodded, but he then began to laugh.

"What's so funny? She asked with a glared, failing to see what the joke was about; _The boy must be mad, that is all there is to it…_

"The flight would be _worth it_," Ryuuto argued and not wanting this girl to be angry with him for too long he held his hands up in surrender. _Her Aunt is kinda scary after all…_ He thought to himself, remembering the look the older woman gave him the other night, as if she knew something that he didn't, if unnerved him.

"I know, but a fear is still a fear and just saying that won't make it go away," Aideena told him and realised something, her words were the same as those her aunt used when they were coming over, that she had to think about what came _after_ the flight; which she found rather hard to do considering the plane was jittering around due to turbulence.

_Soon I'll be back on it…_ She quickly pushed the thought away, not wanting to think about it, _trying_ not to think about it.

"So why not stay a while longer?" He suggested, as if it was the easiest thing to do.

_Yea, just a click of the fingers and I will have a visa that will let me stay in the country for longer…_ She thought sarcastically even though she longed to agree with his idea she knew it was foolish.

Ryuuto kept looking at her, clearly seeing how much she loved Egypt, the _ancient_ ruins that is, but she was so caught up in her fear that was holding her back.

"I can't. Besides I barely know you!" She pointed out.

_She's got a point._ He thought to himself before continuing; "But I would be around, I won't…" He tried to reassure her.

"No, no," She again shook her head; "You can't promise that, you can't give me your word on something like that…"

"But if you were to do this as a job," Ryuuto began, interrupting _her_ this time; "You would have to be around strangers anyway, _and_ travel. But you will be with me I'll…" He stopped, realising that he wasn't getting anywhere with her; "Fine, just be a coward," He shrugged.

She starred at him, glaring at him; "Excuse me?" She wasn't sure if she heard him right that time.

"What?" He tried to look innocent; "I'm just saying you're being a coward. You're letting your fear chase you away from some _amazing_ adventures,"

"I am _not_ a coward!" She hissed back, insulted that someone would even think of calling her that; _having a fear doesn't make me a coward, it makes me normal…_

"Prove it," He challenged her, seeing clearly the flash of anger, the will to prove him _wrong_ glow in those dark green eyes of hers.

"_Fine_," She huffed and glared at him before walking away to another stall, letting her anger scare off any merchant who wanted to try and sell her something.

_Got ya!_ Ryuuto thought to himself with glee, but followed her around even though the anger was mainly directed at him, he wanted to make sure no one tried to grab her, some of the men around there were rather bold in their advances; _The way she's feeling right now… Those guys would regret it._

XXX

When she phoned home to tell them Ryuuto's idea, with her Aunt Mary giving her approval, she was hoping that one of them would say no.

_Go figure that they would want me to go along with this crazy plan._ She thought to herself as she hung up the phone in the hall of the hotel lobby.

"Do it, just _go fer it_!" Ronan had said with excitement, although she wondered if it was because she would be gone for longer than they expected and he could use her room to spread his _tools_.

"You'll have a lovely time," Aunt Sue had told her; "Aunt Mary has given her consent and she has met the young laddie you will travel with…"

She walked outside to see Aunt Mary wearing a wide brimmed hat, even though she was in the shade of the umbrella and Ryuuto who appeared to be enjoying the sun but when he saw her his attention was focused.

"What did they say dear?" Aunt Mary asked, but never looked in her direction which surprised the boy.

_How does she do that?_ He wondered, glancing over to her and then went back to look at Aideena.

"They are fine with it," She said with a sigh and Aunt Mary now turned to her and pulled down her large oversized glasses to look right at her.

"You'll enjoy it, not the flight, you never will enjoy that, but the… Adventure," She nodded slowly as she spoke; "You can't be stuck in Ireland all your life…"

"I know that…" She began to argue back, and she did, she never wanted to live her whole life in Ireland, she wanted to go elsewhere, but she got the feeling that maybe all that she had _was _Ireland.

"Do you?" Aunt Mary face her and Aideena felt herself return to her eight year old self, when she had incorrectly used the tarot cards and told a girl in her class she would die and come back as a tree.

"…" She looked away, both of them forgetting that Ryuuto was still around and watching with interest.

_Is this what a family is like?_ He wondered, having no first-hand experience to fall back on to be able to tell.

"Right, well, I better start packing up my stuff," Aideena stood up and looked at her Aunt who shook her head.

"It's fine dear, I will pack later on,"

With a shrug the red haired girl walked away, once again leaving Ryuuto alone with the older woman, who made him feel rather uncomfortable.

"Well young man?" Aunt Mary looked at him and he just stared back at her, those large sunglasses once again covering her eyes completely.

"What?"

"You need to know this; Aideena's fear of flying is real. It's irrational and no one knows… Well we think it might have been Ronan who scared her, but her fear is always there,"

_She's trying to help me deal with Aideena on the plane._ He realised and listened carefully to everything she was saying.

X

Although even with the knowledge that Aunt Mary had given him, which was limited since Aideena rarely travelled by plane, he was finding it hard than expected to deal with her.

But the Irish girl was also finding it hard to try and keep her nerves together, or at least more so than they were when she flew with family.

"Think I could get a drink?" She asked him as they waited at the departure lounge at the airport, although they weren't leaving Egypt it was faster for them to fly to their next destination.

"You have…" He began and gestured to her backpack.

She shook her head slowly; "No I mean something _stronger_, like vodka or…"

"You're underage," Ryuuto pointed out drily; _Not to mention that there's a religious festival going on._

"Huh, in Ireland thing are a bit _looser_," She said with a shrug and bit her lip; "But…"

"Aideena, _no_," He said firmly, knowing what she was thinking; thanking Aunt Mary for warning him in advance; "Calm down," He took her hand into his own, hoping that it would calm her down a bit; "It's _fine_,"

He remembered the advice her Aunt Mary had given him before she too went back to her hotel room; _"Just try to sooth her. And pray to whatever deity you believe in that there is no turbulence!"_

He didn't think it was that bad, believing that Aunt Mary just wanted to be dramatic, but now he got the feeling that she was indeed serious.

_What have I gotten myself into?_ He wondered, but remembered that Aideena had a far greater knowledge on ancient history than he did, her help would be needed to find the treasure his bosses wanted him to find.

"It'll be fine," He repeated to her, noticing that she gained a bit of colour in her cheeks; _Is it working?_

"Ryuuto," she just looked at him for a moment; "You won't let go of my hand right?"

He blinked at the sudden question; "Well, I would when we go through the ticket counter and to put on… But yea, I will,"

"It's a short flight too…." She said, mostly to herself and tried to calm down then looked at her hand that Ryuuto held to see his thumb stroking the back of her hand.

_He's crazy, he's insane for even wanting me along on this journey… But he's nice._ She smiled slightly and then heard their numbers being called out and they stood up.

"All right, let's go," He pulled her along and let go of her hand, only taking it again when they were both seated on the plane, going back to stroke the back of her hand once more; "Are you.."

"Please don't…" Aideena said, feeling the colour drain from her cheeks, closing her eyes as they prepared for take-off; "Not a word…" She whispered and tried to remember to breath.

He did as she asked, giving her hand a gentle squeeze every so often, reminding her that he was next to her and he wasn't going to let go for the whole flight.

Ryuuto wasn't aware of it, but he did calm her down, even if it was only a little bit and she was grateful for him doing that.

_Oh please, please, please don't let there be any turbulence on this flight…_ She prayed for the whole flight, feeling Ryuuto's hold on her hand become looser and then jumped as she felt his head rest on her shoulder.

_I guess I must be a pain…_ she looked down at his hand, although it was a loose grip, he was still holding her hand and she smiled; _I suppose it's always the crazy one's who take these risks._


End file.
